Isobel's Story, aka The Plan
by Stultus Stulta Loquitur
Summary: How did Isobel become a vampire? What drove her to do this? What is The Plan? Does she have even an ounce of humanity left? A one-shot kinda only from the perspective of 3/4 different characters, and broken down into just as many chapters. Please R
1. Isobel's Story

This was it. After so many years of strategizing. After all that John had told her. It all came down to _this_. It was painful sometimes, to consider all that she would have to give up -- to toss it aside like it didn't matter when in truth it was her world -- to proceed with the plan.

But it had to be done.

As John would say, "If you can't beat them and you absolutely refuse to join them, force one of them to join you."

But he didn't have to force her. No; here she was, offering her body and her soul to the cause, hoping that he would announce his love for her and tell her that there was no need for this. But no. Even after all the years that they had spent together, she being his fling, his crush, his lover... even after she had gotten married because she thought he wasn't interested anymore and then given that up to, to be his lover again and go through with the plan that they both had poured their lives into... she had even carried his child and _still_ the plan was more important to her. He could not love her as she loved him.

And it had to be done.

It was a simple plan, perhaps a bit extensive, but simple enough. However, the plan did not seem to want to transfer as smoothly as hoped from paper to reality. It was a plan of many steps, and they were now approaching what was the most vital of them all.

Step one had been easy - almost too easy. John had called her in the middle of the night two months ago, supplying her with information about the leech. She knew he was speaking of the plan; the very same plan she had almost forgotten, and the very same plan that now, as she laid in bed next to her husband, prayed would never come up again, reared its ugly head again. And she couldn't say no.

It had to be done.

"The leech would be easy enough to convince, or seduce, should it come to that, to turn you," John had said, with such disgust on the word "leech". Each time he uttered "leech," or "vampire," he said it with such disdain that it hurt. And she didn't think the question that always teetered on the edge of consciousness, the one that threatened to destroy both her and the plan altogether: _What if I go through with this for him, and he says my name like that? Treats _me_ like _that_?_

It had to be done.

Step two had been to watch the vampire secretly from afar, to make sure that he would be easy enough to convince (or seduce). He was rather attractive - a classic bad boy with a troubled past, black hair and a leather jacket. And she felt pity for him too, for he was, unknowingly, a part of the plan. The plan that would destroy him, just as it had worked with John's twisted love to destroy any bit of humanity within herself.

She hated it.

And now they had reached step three. She left a letter in the mailbox of the vampire.

_You can't escape the wrath of my heart  
Beating to your funeral song (You're so alone)  
All faith is lost for hell regained  
And love dust in the hands of shame (Just be brave)_vampire_ heart_

_Let me bleed you this song of my heart deformed_  
_And lead you along this path in the dark_  
_Where I belong 'till I feel your warmth_

_Hold me_  
_Like you held on to life_  
_When all fears came alive and entombed me_  
_Love me_  
_Like you love the sun_  
_Scorching the blood in my_

_I know, Damon. Meet me at 2350 Sycamore Street at 7pm tonight, or I will reveal your secret._

She knew this would get his attention. The lyrics... well, perhaps they were a tad much, but she wanted to create suspense, like John had said. And how cheesy did this sound: "I know you're a blood sucking monster. Meet me..."?

He came, just like they knew he would. And she gave him the well rehearsed speech that John had helped her prepare after she invited him into her home and as he had her pinned against a wall. She told him how she was no longer happy with her husband, how she couldn't bear to leave him, but if he thought she was dead, it would be easier. She could start anew and fulfill the dreams she truly wanted to.

Isobel felt quilty, lying to him this way. But she could see the hunger in the vamp's eyes, and she knew that he would either kill her and move on, or change her as discussed.

As the vampire caved in and his lips sank into her soft yet firm flesh, all she could think about was Alaric. It was odd. She had figured that if anyone would've popped into her mind in what could've been the last moments of her life, it would've been John. Now the vampire held his bleeding neck to her mouth, and she drank without thinking about it. And still Alaric was all she could think about. Perhaps she loved him more than she realized. Perhaps.

But suddenly the vampire pulled back from Isobel, and she could see him clearly now. She wasn't just thinking about Ric. He was there. He had seen. And all Isobel could do was scream, "No," but no sound escaped her lips. The vampire grabbed her neck so fast that she wasn't sure that he actually had until she heard the sharp snap. Then the vampire was gone, and the world was spinning -- or perhaps she was falling? -- and everything went black.

It was cold, and she was completely, utterly, alone.


	2. John's Story

He had loved her the instant he laid eyes on her face.

It was a very cold night and John was sitting at a table in the Mystic Grill, drinking a cup of coffee to try to stay awake. He was failing terribly, but in more than one way: failing to stay awake and failing his Chem class. And of course he had waited to the last possible second to bust out a quick study session for his exam coming up tomorrow. He didn't really know why he even tried. He was doomed to fail, but still he attempted to convince himself that the ever elusive "A" was possible.

And that was when he saw her.

She had just entered with a gang of her best friends. She was perhaps a year or so younger than himself, and he was stunned by her beauty. She joked and frolicked with who appeared to be her boyfriend as they began to sit around a table -- this suddenly reminded him of his own girlfriend, Jenna Sommers, who was speaking with Grayson (who was also currently going out with Jenna's older sister) as he was relaxing after a long day of work and college with a couple of beers. But that thought was quickly dashed from his mind as the girl locked eyes with him.

She must've been thinking what he was because she got up and, still holding his gaze without being completely obvious as to tip her boyfriend off, headed to the ladies room. He followed moments later, abandoning all thought of Chem exams and coffee.

Unfortunately, Jenna found them. She promptly proceeded with informing the girl's boyfriend of their partners' act of unfaithfulness, and the next thing John knew was that it was morning and he was lying somewhere behind the Grill. His face was covered with bruises and tried blood coated his chin. But it didn't matter anyway. He had discovered the girl's name: Isobel Flemming. And that was enough for him.

* * *

Jenna never told anyone else about John and Isobel, and she never truly knew who the girl was. Jenna also just assumed that John hadn't seen the girl after the beating he had received from her boyfriend. Therefore, no one realized who the girl was that showed up on Grayson's steps almost a year later, sixteen and scared to death and very, _very _pregnant. No one thought about the possibility that John was the father of the gorgeous baby girl, and when the teen disappeared days later, Grayson and Miranda took the child in as their own. They christened her Elena.

No one asked, so John never told. It just had to be that way.

* * *

As he was preparing to graduate from high school, John learned about the vampires from the journals of Jonathan Gilbert. He had been seeing Isobel on and off since Elena's birth, but now he sought her out to tell her about the information he had discovered. Isobel had confided in John that she had been considering studying paranormal psychology in college, so the young Gilbert knew that this would be right up her gallery.

They came up with the plan together -- first as boyfriend/girlfriend, then later as friends when Isobel began to drift away and fall in love with someone named "Alaric." John saw it in her eyes and heard it in the way she spoke about him. He was losing her, but it was okay, because the plan would bring them together just as it had when they had begun to drift apart towards the end of their high school careers.

John attended her wedding with a heavy heart, but he hid this fact behind a smile.

They continued their plotting in secret, and their secret bound them closer together. John arranged for them to plot in places where she would be more vulnerable to his charm -- apartment buildings, romantic restaurants. His jealousy pushed him further and further, and eventually Isobel caved in and let John have his way.

As time passed, John watched as Isobel became more and more enveloped in her work and in her husband - in anything and everything but him. She was no longer interested in the plan, and John saw less and less of her until he never saw her at all. He knew that the plan must be done if he was to keep her close.

He gave her a call with the instructions. John brought up their daughter -- reminding Isobel that if they didn't rid Mystic Falls of vampires, that their daughter was certain to be in harm's way -- to ensure that she would follow through.

And Isobel did what she had to.

* * *

Unfortunately what Isobel had to do consisted of stealing his ring of immortality to give to Alaric to ensure his safety. At first John was enraged, but he realized that blowing up in Isobel's face would not do anything but drive her away. So he remained calm and "borrowed" Grayson's ring (he had never much cared for his snobbish older brother, anyway), and assured her that everything was alright. And John was sure that it was just Isobel's way of saying good-bye to her old life and welcoming a new one.

But it still hurt to think about the fact that Isobel would rather see Alaric protected by the ring than himself.

* * *

After the scheduled meeting with Damon, John didn't see her again for a very long time. Isobel called him occasionally, but it was always brief and about the plan. _She just needs time to adjust_, John would think to himself, _She's fine, we're fine,_ everything_ is okay._

But he knew it wasn't. He knew that the dynamics of their relationship had changed. That it would never be what it once was. The fragile thing they called true love, the one thing that they were once able to hold for each other, and been promptly shattered into a million pieces. Love can only mend the relationship of two people before the decline reaches a certain point.

They had officially passed this point.

This fact tried to break his heart, but he buried it down deep inside and locked it away so that he wouldn't have to experience the pain. So he attempted to live a normal, if empty and meaningless, life until the time came that he got _the_ call from Isobel, the call that would change everything.

It had taken nearly ten years (maybe more, time had blurred together after Isobel had gone) to get that call. But now it was time to move on to step three of the plan, and hope -- no, pray -- against all hope that they could reverse what had been done and cross back over the point of no return.


End file.
